Between Pissed Jeans, METZ, and King Tuff, half of this year's Sub Pop CMJ showcase was basically a punk show, a pretty awesome move in 2012 for the label that over two decades ago brought us Mudhoney and a pre-major label Nirvana. The lineup was rounded out by the less punk but still great Daughn Gibson (who we also caught at Villain), Poor Moon and Debo Band. It went down on the Thursday (10/18) of CMJ at Knitting Factory, and we stopped by for headliners Pissed Jeans, who you can see pictures of in this post.

Meanwhile, newish Sub Pop signees Poor Moon released their debut album at the end of August (download a couple MP3s above) and will be touring most of August opening for Beach House. (No NYC show.) Their tour dates are below, along with videos from some of the rest of the Sub Pop showcase line-up.

The 20th annual Culture Shock festival went down at SUNY Puchase from April 27-28. Day 1 (4/27) kicked off with the Stooges-meets-Jesus Lizard punk of Pissed Jeans, followed by California rapper Casey Veggies, who played SOBs a few days earlier. Day 1 of main stage wrapped up with an entrancing live-band IDM set from Tycho followed by Islands, both of whom played unexpected, crowd-demanded encores. Afterwards, Big Freedia packed Purchase's student center (The Stood) for an ass-shakin' afterparty, complete with nonstop dancing both on and off stage, and one of the biggest/craziest shows The Stood has seen in years.

Day 2 began with Cleveland rockers Cloud Nothings, who played almost the entirety of their powerful January LP Attack on Memory. Up next were two completely opposite sides of the folk spectrum; the foot-stomping Felice Brothers and the melancholic, distortion-drenched EMA. Day 2 ended with a headlining set from Idle Warship, the project of Talib Kweli and Res in full rock band mode. Idle Warship drew the largest crowd of the entire fest, and delivered an unfaltering set of Idle Warship originals, Talib classics, and a few covers (including the Stooges' "Search and Destroy").

Pittsburgh's Slices returns with another wrecking ball of noise-infested nihilism on Still Cruising, the band's latest offering via Iron Lung Records, follow-up to last year's Kemado-released Modern Bride / Chump Change 7", and sequel to their 2010 debut LP Cruising on Iron Lung. For the unfamiliar, Slices utilize a mix of razor-sharp hardcore and noise-punk that recalls favorites like Brainbombs or Pissed Jeans. Clocking in at a taut 20-minutes, Slices' compelling new offering never outwears its welcome and cements the band's vitriolic virtuosity.

Look for the record soon via Iron Lung Records, and stream five tracks from the LP and a song from their Kemado 7", below...

As previously discussed, Ceremony headlined Le Poisson Rouge on 2/4 with a staggering lineup of support from Pissed Jeans, Rival Mob, Kim Phuc, Hoax, and Gods & Queens. Pictures and video from this show adorn this post.

Ceremony also swung by WNYU to play a live set as part of The New Afternoon Show. Stream that appearance in its entirety at WNYU.

In the wake of their sold-out mega show at LPR, Ceremony have announced a US tour in support of their forthcoming effort Zoo due on Matador. The dates do not include an NYC date so far, but will stop in Austin for SXSW at Red 7 on March 17th. More details are forthcoming, but tour dates are below.

As discussed, Ceremony played a packed out LPR with Rival Mob, Hoax, Kim Phuc (who also played a late show) and Gods & Queens. Pictures from the show are on the way but until then, check out video below.

In related news, the great Hoax will also join on another upcoming NYC bill, this time with the mighty Veins and Raw Nerve, as well as Chain Wallet at 538 Johnson on April 8th. More details are available at the Facebook event page. The band, who will release a new EP via Youth Attack this year, will prepare for an upcoming tour with SQRM in the coming days and will play Chaos in Tejas this year.

"Beyond the onstage antics, the band played an incredible set. The crowd's favourite seemed to be the official last song of the night, "False Jesii Part 2." As soon as the band started playing it the intensity in the room skyrocketed and the structural soundness of the floor was tested to the max as the crowd bounced to the high paced rhythm. As the last song came to an end, fans were left wanting for more.

Pissed Jeans were happy to oblige, on one condition: "a rousing clap" was needed, at the request of Korvette. The crowd complied and the band played on. Ending their encore, the drummer, Sean McGuinness, leapt over his kit and into the crowd."

If you missed Pissed Jeans, here's some BIG news that should ease your mind. Pissed Jeans have been added to the now RIDICULOUS lineup of Ceremony/Rival Mob/Kim Phuc/Hoax/Gods & Queensat LPR on Feb 4th. Tickets are still available and only $5 in advance.

Pop 1280 mine the dark chasms of punk and no-wave on their new LP The Horror, due on Sacred Bones on January 24th. The band previously released the song "Bodies In The Dunes" from that album, and we are now proud to premiere another track today called "New Electronix". Stream both below.

Pop 1280 have THREE NYC shows scheduled for the next couple of months. Most imminently, the band will play Sunday at Music Hall of Williamsburg (1/22) with Pissed Jeans & Protect-U. Tickets are still available. The band will ALSO play a record release show that week at the WIERD party at Home Sweet Home on January 25th with DJs Caleb Braaten (of Sacred Bones) + Glenn Maryansky (of Cult of Youth), more details are available at the Facebook invite. Last but not least, look for Pop 1280 at Saint Vitus on March 3rd with Velvet Condom and Bootblacks. Tickets are on sale.

Speaking of Cult of Youth, vocalist/guitarist Sean Ragon will re-open his record store Heaven Street on Friday (1/20). The opening of the new location (184 Noll St, near Flushing Ave, off the Morgan L) will be accompanied by free beer, and DJ sets from Glenn Maryansky, Sybil Disobedience, Chris Prorock, Ning Nong and Gasface. The grand re-opening kicks off at 4PM and more details are available at the Facebook invite.

Though they appeared at House of Vans over the summer, Pissed Jeans have kept a relatively low profile in 2011. They played very few shows and three were in Philadelphia. The new year is just around the corner though, and Pissed Jeans have already announced a pair of dates, both East Coast. Look for the band to play January 14th at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia and Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 22nd. Tickets for MHoW go on sale at noon on Friday (12/2).

While we wait for those shows and hope for more, check out another set of Pissed Jeans pictures from House of Vans. They continue below...

Cro-Mags headlined a hot, sweaty, and rain-drenched House of Vans with a supporting cast of Fucked Up, Screaming Females, and Pissed Jeanson Friday night (7/29). Doors to the venue opened at 7PM as the masses in line (the line touched the neighboring They Might Be Giants line down the block) were getting drenched in the downpour. Those entering were wringing out their shirts in the ultra-humid and wet warehouse.

Pissed Jeans opened the show with authority, pounding out favorites like "False Jesii pt 2" while the "moshing" crowd fell victim to the slick sheen of water on the venue floor; I saw my share of slips in mid-mosh. After a crew mopped the floors (seriously), Screaming Females followed with an energetic set that got the crowds back moving, though nothing comparable to what was to come.

There were a lot of discussion/rumors regarding who would be the headliner for the show, partially due to the crowd looking like they skewed on the Fucked Up side and partially due to the House of Vans site listing "Cro-Mags / Fucked Up" in the top billing spot. Ends up it was Fucked Up who supported. Damian & co riled up the sweat-drenched crowd indoors & outdoors, on stage & off, causing crowdsurfing and singalongs, though clearly confusing the security guards ("I'm OK, dont worry about it"). Excellent set.

Cro-Mags was the main event though, and the band covered material from their classic Age of Quarrel ("Show You No Mercy", 'We Gotta Know") in addition to covers by Bad Brains ("Attitude") while the crowd went apeshit. Stage dives off of the PA, crowdsurfing, floor-punching, and more were all in abundance, as the Cro-Mags gave an energetic set despite the barrier between the band and crowd (unfortunate for a Cro-Mags show in my opinion).

As promised the July 29th free House of Vans show will feature sets by Fucked Up & Cro-Mags (who just played Bowery), but that has also expanded to include both Screaming Females and Pissed Jeans. RSVP is open for this mindblowing FREE show. Screaming Females also play a FREE show with Ted Leo this weekend.

The August 4th lineup has also been revealed and it is Man Man, Glass Candy, and Crystal Antlers. RSVP is also open for that free Brooklyn show.

Details on the final two shows at House of Vans, August 18th and 25th, are still forthcoming, but we hear Big Freedia is a strong possibility for one of them. Meanwhile catch Superchunk, Off! and Lemuriathere on Thursday, July 14.

We are truly thrilled to announce that Other Music will be hosting a record release party for Thurston Moore's fantastic new solo joint, Demolished Thoughts, produced by Beck Hansen for Matador Records. Thurston and his band will be performing at the shop at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 23, and signing records after. Please join us -- and, need we say, get here early! - Other Music

"Midway through J Mascis' set, the seasoned headliner invited Kurt Vile, opener and contributor to the former's most recent acoustic album, Several Shades of Why, to accompany on the song "Make it Right." As they shared the stage, a sense of mutual respect pervaded the room...

...From a seated position, [Mascis] occasionally glanced at a music stand holding a lyric book, but, most often, known guitar riffs took precedence over words. The live performance combined elements of Dinosaur Jr.'s sound, grungy distortion and piercing solos, parsed out of Several Shades of Why. But, with Vile's help, Mascis colored the solo work, exploring the depths of each other's songwriting and talent." [Playtonic Dialogues]

J Mascis played a solo show at Mercury Lounge last night (3/24) and does it again tonight/Friday at a sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg again with Kurt Vile. Earlier today J dropped a new video for "Not Enough", off his Sub Pop solo album, and you can watch that below.

As previously mentioned. Kurt Vile will also be back in NYC on June 11th to take on Bowery Ballroom. Ends up that Pissed Jeans is also playing that show. Tickets go on AmEx presale on Wed 3/30 and regular sale on Friday. Like J, Kurt Vile released a new LP this month.

Check out J's video for "Not Enough", along with a SXSW interview with Ted Leo (sweet Om shirt J!) and all tour dates below.

[Mudhoney's] set on Friday night [at ATP] was the perfect dichotomy of punk energy and lackadaisical sludge. The set built in energy from the grinding early tracks like the invincible 'Sweet Young Thing...' and 'Mudride' to the punk riot marathon of 'In-N-Out of Grace'. The ATP NY main-stage is in this great, tiered, Borscht Belt ballroom and when Mudhoney launched into the body of 'In-N-Out of Grace' the crowd went so ballistic that it seemed like bodies were crowd surfing from the highest tier all the way down to the floor. One of the many things I love about ATP NY is that the crowd is mostly composed of true die-hard music nuts, so when a band is lighting it up on-stage that crowd reacts in whatever way their genre demands. -[We Love DC]

The above review refers to Mudhoney's performance of Superfuzz BigMuff + Early Singlesat Kutsher's Friday night, part of ATP's Don't Look Back series . The next day, Mudhoney teamed up with Pissed Jeans and White Hills (who would play ATP NY on Sunday) for a show at Bowery Ballroom....

"During songs like "Suck You Dry" people would try to climb on stage to crowd surf.. there was a roadie pushing everyone back into the crowd-or if they made it on stage walking them off stage.. So the jumpers would have to be quick.. when they dove, they were rarely caught.. I saw some chick get up there (not the thinnest of women) and take a jump and disappear into the floor quickly-there was nothing pretty about it: The essence of grunge. She didn't care that she looked like an Asshole-she's rocking out. And we all salute her (and chuckle)." [The Jay Porks Experience]

No more US tour dates for Mudhoney for now, but the band will play a string of dates in Europe at the tail-end of this month and into next. Those dates, as well as the rest of the Bowery pics, some videos, and Mudhoney's setlist, are below...

Saturday was classic hardcore day in NYC and especially at Santos Party House where Negative Approach headlined a show with other sets by Tesco Vee (Meatmen), Pissed Jeans, Mind Eraser, and Hellmouth. More pictures from that show below...

Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Pissed Jeansplayed two shows in NYC over the weekend. The first of those sweaty shows was Friday night (6/18) at the Cake Shop with Home Blitz and Bloody Gears. The pictures here are from that hot and sweaty gig. The second was the next night at Death By Audio which is referenced in the above tweet.

If you were looking for a day job that would reinforce the credibility of your garage punk band, you could hardly do better than to follow the example of Eddy Current Suppression Ring -- the four members of the group met when they were working at a vinyl pressing plant in Ormond, Victoria, Australia. Inspired by hard-edged, primitive rock in the manner of the Troggs, the Pagans. and X (the Aussie band, not the California punks of the same name), Eddy Current Suppression Ring got its start in late 2003 [and] ...after lots of local gigging and a handful of 7"s and EPs, the band issued their self-titled debut LP on Dropkick Records in 2006. ...The group formed their own label, Aarght Records, to release their second full-length album, 2008's Primary Colours. The album became an unexpected crossover success, rising to number six on the Australian charts and earning ECSR a nomination for Best Rock Album of 2008 at the Australian Music Industry Awards.

ECSR is readying a new 7" for Mexican Summer, "Wet Cement" b/w "Hey Mum" + "Through The Trees", due this week. In addition, the band rill release Rush To Relax on Goner in March, dig on one of those tracks, "anxiety", above.

Dig on full ECSR and Pissed Jeans dates, as well as a few videos, below.

This was the first day of Dum Dum Girls existence as a live band, but clearly they spent a lot of time working out the details, from the look -- bangs, gorgeous Silvertone guitars and bass, extremely short black dresses and stockings -- to the sound, which is somewhere between the Velvet Underground and '60s girl groups. It was an impressive debut, hot and cool at the same time. I kept thinking, "this is what the Velvet Underground might sound like if all the members were Nico."

Now technically Dum Dum Girls played before Saturday, at the Woodsist / Captured Festival, and some West Coast dates, each with different line-ups. Which could happen again. But this felt like the first real version.

[The Dutchess and the Duke's] Lortz and Morrison make a good musical pair, trading off guitar leads and contrasting his grainy bark with her smoother harmonies. That's apparent enough on their two albums, but onstage, their chemistry keeps their music from dissolving into Dylan pastiche. In fact, in their best moments-- particularly "Scorpio", whose downhearted call-and-response seemed especially emotionally alienated-- they made an audacious effort not simply to re-create old sounds, but to mold those influences to suit their own modern ends. [Pitchfork]

The Moondoggies were also on the Mercury Lounge bill and had performed in flannel at the BrooklynVegan Bowery Presents show at Pianos earlier that day.

Easily categorized as "Americana," The Moondoggies marry alt-country with 1970's folk, but Quick's twinkling keyboard brings the band immediately into the 21st century. [KEXP]

The Mercury lineup also included Unnatural Helpers, Obits and Golden Triangle. Pictures of all the bands plus the above-mentioned Dum Dum Girls video and more, below...

Compare/contrast that lineup, which covers a wide spectrum of styles, with Pissed Jeans' show on 10/30 at Le Poisson Rouge billed as "NYU Halloween Punk/Hardcore Fest". Pissed Jeans will headline with support coming from Awesome Color, Drunkdriver, My Mind, The Sleepies, and Ex-Wife. Tickets are only $2 if you have an NYU ID and $5 without and, um, costumes are highly encouraged.

"The Pissed Jeans live experience in a word? Sexy. Undeniably sexy, almost erotic. Singer Matt Korvette does everything that we--ladies, the world--are not meant to find attractive: rubbing his sweaty chest, awkwardly dancing, gyrating his hips, eating his foot, doing high kicks, wearing Cheap Mondays--but it works. These are all things I knew before but seeing it, and his crotch, in your face reaffirms them. His onstage swagger, for that it is what it is because he must know the effect he has, stands in stark contrast to the stunted machismo that happens in the pit during most of their shows. This time, a shirtless young man stage dived only to meet nothing but empty floor as the band continued to thrash and hash out its thoughts on the banal minutiae of everyday life. Guitarist Bradley Fry and bassist Randy Huth pushed the group's brand of undulating, harried, and sludgy hardcore forward while Korvette interjected with humorous tales of ennui ("Half Jesii Part 2") and the nine-to-five world ("Dream Smotherer.") Drummer Sean McGuinness yakked all over the stage. Sorry man, but that's all I can say about you. They stormed through songs from their excellent new album, King of Jeans, and indulged in their own mix of fleshy, visceral raunch. Korvette came onstage, asked the crowd if there were any pregnant women in the audience, and then proclaimed that they might be his, followed by a few swishes of his hips. After that show, there probably were." [FADER]

That's the last time that the mighty Rorschach blessed NYC. The band called it quits shortly after, splintering into projects like Gern Blandsten Records, Beautiful Skin, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye, and tons more, but those great successes only highlighted an undeniable fact: Rorschach were innovative and before their time.

After deciding to reunite earlier this year in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Remain Sedate LP, Rorschach announced a short east coast tour. The band is currently in the midst of that tour, which impacts Asbury Park in their native New Jersey tonight (9/24) and Santos Party House TOMORROW (9/25, tix here).

We spoke with the mighty Charles Maggio (Vocals, owner Gern Blandsten Records) to get to the bottom of the reunion and what we can expect going forward....